NO TOILET BREAKS: Robots work as waiters in a restaurant in Japan. PICTURE / GETTY IMAGES
The robots are here!
They have been around for a long time, the robots.
But from their gradual introduction into the workplace they are now zooming into more and more jobs that were once the domain of men and women - humans.
Companies are continually looking for ways to streamline their
businesses and to cut their payrolls and the answer to many has been the introduction of the robot work force.
Los Angeles Times reporter Natalie Kitroeff recently looked at the move in California away from workers to the automaton factories that were being established and her research can be applied across the continent.
Skechers, a running shoe company that is a leader across Na Land, seven years ago built a giant distribution centre in Moreno Valley, California, with their promoters' promises a wave of new jobs. Instead, by the time the company moved into its new facility it had closed five of its facilities that employed 1200 people and cut its workforce by more than half! Now fewer than 600 people are working at their warehouse with many sitting behind computer screens monitoring the true work-horses - robotic machines.
Amazon, reflecting the on-line shopping phenomenon, has built 20 centres outfitted with robotics over the past three to four years but has added 50,000 warehouse workers nationwide - and more than 30,000 robots.
Yes, they are here - the robots - and sneaking into practically every occupation and they do create concerns for the work force and especially the workers in the storage industry as automation is replacing the lowest-end jobs. Automation is making companies more productive and richer - and this is why machines do most carmaking.
Self-driving cars are being developed and farmers are using robots to plant, harvest and pack crops.
Company owners argue that it is the only way to upgrade and to stay profitable in a 'dog-eat-dog' market.
The unskilled labour force is the primary area affected by the introduction of the robots as there are still positions available for the skilled worker and especially those who are very computer-literate. They have to be able to follow computer maps showing traffic flow and any jams on the conveyor belt and be able to deal immediately with situations that arise in technical areas throughout a plant.
For the foreseeable future the robot is still dependent on the human operator whose hand-eye co-ordination is indispensable but as robots and computers get smarter they will gradually infiltrate new corners of storage, shipping, billing and practically most aspects of a business.
One of the first business to see the new age was the printing business.
Have a look down on Drew's Ave and glance up at the once thriving Wanganui Chronicle building - there were the linotypes, the smell of ink, and the pasteup areas - the presses were operating frantically to get out each morning edition and the carriers were there in the early hours of the morning ready to rev up their motorbikes or cars for delivery up the Parapara to Raetihi, to Ohakune, to Taihape and Marton.
The night shift was in by 8pm each evening and home at 6am, and when there was a race meeting in town the presses ran all night to get the books out early enough for punters to pick them up at a local dairy or at the track.
Queen's Birthday weekend was extremely 'frantic' with races on both Saturday and Monday, the latter preceded by the Wanganui-Taranaki rugby game at Spriggens Park. Now that is all quiet except for the occasional sound of breaking glass.